#business-models

#business-models

With each consolidation, acquisition, or PE investment, marketing agencies' vision moves further away from being providers of agnostic services and creators of culture to purveyors of enterprise platforms and orchestrators of strategy and execution. Put simply, your agencies will no longer act solely as your agents but also as owners of products/solutions, resellers of technology partnerships and developers of emerging capabilities.

The theory is basically this - AI is mostly free. Huge majority of the people, more than 99 out of a hundred people use it every day for free. And there really aren't any other business models that exist, that have been successful, incredibly successful for years and years and years don't have a large number of paying customers. Either millions of people paying you know, sort of some money, maybe it's $10.

Agencyland has long been thought of as a two-tier system. Over here, you have your 'networks,' typified by giant global holding companies such as WPP and its myriad sub-brands. And over there, you have 'independents' (the very best of which you'll find in our Indie Agency 100 list): shops with no links to those networks, owned by themselves or their founders and calling their own shots.

"One downside of the size of rounds that are happening, and how fast these rounds are occurring, is that investors are perhaps missing this idea of the business model quality," Okike told Business Insider.

According to Junior Achievement, 66% of teens aged 13-17 express an interest in starting their businesses as adults, signaling a generation ready to create opportunities.

Lovable, one of Europe's fastest-growing AI startups, is raising over $150 million at a nearly $2 billion valuation, following a previous $15 million round.

"The problem with most holding companies is they treat creativity like a novelty item, tucked away in a box, wheeled out for the pitch."

Independent creators leverage digital platforms and cloud tools to redefine industries, enabling global reach, creative autonomy, and innovative solutions without traditional barriers.

The key distinction between chain restaurants and franchises lies in ownership and operational control; chain eateries are corporate-owned, while franchises feature independent operators.